The World Health Organization (“WHO”) dedicated last week’s World Health Day to spreading awareness of food safety. World Health Day is celebrated on April 7 each year to mark the anniversary of the 1948 founding of the WHO. In the past, the WHO has highlighted issues such as vector-borne diseases, hypertension, and aging. This year, the WHO focused on food safety and called on everyone involved in food production and handling to help prevent and…

On October 20th, the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) ruled against the United States, and in favor of Canada and Mexico, in an ongoing dispute between the countries regarding country-of-origin labeling (“COOL”) laws for meat products. COOL rules in the United States, which went into effect in 2013, require meat labels to detail where the animals were born, raised, and slaughtered. In ruling against the United States in this dispute, the WTO found that these COOL…

Vermont’s Attorney General recently asked the state’s federal district court to dismiss a lawsuit attempting to strike down Vermont’s new GMO-labeling law. Vermont Act 120, which was signed by the governor in May, will require retailers to identify food that contains genetically engineered ingredients as “produced with genetic engineering.” It also prohibits labeling GMO foods as “natural,” “naturally grown,” “all natural,” or other similar phrases. A consortium of food industry associations brought the lawsuit asserting…

Published in: For The Defense
Products regulated in the United States by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and in Canada by Health Canada are subject to a complex set of regulatory requirements. These regulatory requirements will often include a review and the approval of the safety and the efficacy of a product and the consideration of the adequacy and the content of the product’s label. When consumers allege that these same products are…

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the FDA’s regulation of food additives and its Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) program. According to the suit, the FDA has relied on a proposed rule over the last 15 years that has allowed food manufacturers to determine whether a food additive is safe enough to be included on the agency’s list of “generally recognized as…

Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) sent a letter to three federal judges refusing to determine whether foods with genetically modified ingredients can be labeled as “natural.” The letter was in response to three federal court orders staying and administratively terminating class actions involving food labeled as “natural.”
The FDA’s assistant commissioner for policy, Leslie Kux, stated in the letter that the agency would decline to determine “whether and under what…

Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) sent a letter to three federal judges refusing to determine whether foods with genetically modified ingredients can be labeled as “natural.” The letter was in response to three federal court orders staying and administratively terminating class actions involving food labeled as “natural.”
The FDA’s assistant commissioner for policy, Leslie Kux, stated in the letter that the agency would decline to determine “whether and under what…

In a series of recent lawsuits, plaintiffs have sued Subway Sandwich Shops, Inc., (“Subway”) under various consumer protection laws claiming that the world’s biggest fast-food chain has been serving customers “footlong” sandwiches that are not, in fact, 12 inches. What started with customers posting pictures of their sandwiches next to rulers on Facebook, has resulted in class actions against the sandwich giant.
On January 22, 2013, plaintiff Nguyen Buren filed the first lawsuit in…